As a founder member of Mystery Women in 1997, promoting Crime Fiction has always been my passion.
Following the closure of Mystery Women, a new group was formed on 30th January 2012 promoting crime fiction.
New reviews are posted daily, but to search for earlier reviews please click on the Mystery People link below and select 'reviews' from the welcome page. This will display an alphabetic option for you to find the review you would like to read

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Friday, 23 October 2015

‘The Shutter Man’ by Richard Mantanari

Published by Sphere, 13
August 2015. ISBN: 978-0-4934-8.

Since the 1940's when the Farren family moved there from Ireland, they
have terrorised the neighbourhood known as The Devil's Pocket in Philadelphia.
Down through the years one or another of the Farrens have been jailed. This
continues to the present day. The youngest member of the family Michael, who
likes to be known as Billy the Wolf, was hit by a car when he was younger and
was in a coma for two years. He sustained brain damage and it affected his
ability to recognise faces. Because of this he has to carry photographs of his
family and friends around with him.

In 2015 one gruesome murder after another takes place
and although Detective Byrne suspects they areconnected to the Farren family, cannot work out how
and why.

Who is it heard singing the death song before each
murder? Also what is the meaning of the puzzling message written in blood on a white handkerchief and
left at the scene of each killing? After consulting an expert on religious codes etc. Detective Byrne
makes a connection to the past. Together with the help of Assistant District Attorney Jessica Balzano he
solves a very complicated case.

This is a very well written and intriguing book and the
pace never lets up. Although it is divulged almost from the first murder whoare the culprits, it is a mystery as to why
they are carrying them out. Also why is acertain horrific ritual performed after every killing?

I do like a book that is full of “what ifs” and “whys”
and this certainly delivers. The ending is especially satisfying and all the loose ends are tied up
satisfactorily. This as they say was “a cracking good read”!

------

Reviewer:
Tricia Chappell

Richard Montanari was
born in Cleveland, Ohio, the scion of a traditional
Italian-American family, which means he learned two things very early in life.
One: ravioli tastes much better than baby formula. Two: if you don't get to the
table on time, there is no ravioli. After an undistinguished academic
career, Richard traveled Europe extensively, living in London
for a time, where he sold clothing in Chelsea,
and foreign language encyclopedias door-to-door in Hampstead Heath.
Needless to say, he hawked a few more ties than tomes, but neither job paid
enough to keep him in beer and skittles. So, he returned to the States and
joined his family's construction firm. Five years and a hundred smashed
thumbs later, he decided that writing might be a better job. After working as a
freelance writer for years, during which time he was published in more than two
hundred publications -- including The Chicago
Tribune, The Detroit Free Press, The Seattle Times, and
many others -- Richard wrote three pages of what was to become the first
chapter ofDeviant Way. He was immediately
signed to a New York
agency. When he finished the book, Michael Korda signed him to a two-book deal
at Simon & Schuster. In 1996 Deviantwon
the OLMA for Best First Mystery.

Tricia Chappell.
I have a great love of books and reading, especially crime and thrillers. I
play the occasional game of golf (when I am not reading). My great love
is cruising especially to far flung places, when there are long days at sea for
plenty more reading! I am really enjoying reviewing books and have found lots
of great new authors.

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About Me

From an early age I have been a lover of crime fiction. Discovering like minded people at my first crime conference at St Hilda’s Oxford in 1997, I was delighted when asked to join a new group for the promotion of female crime writers. In 1998 I took over the running of the group, which I did for the next thirteen years.
During that time I organised countless events promoting crime writers and in particular new writers. But apart from the sheer joy of reading, ‘I actually love books, not just the writing, the plot or the characters, but the sheer joy of holding a book has never abated for me. The greatest gift of my life has been the ability to read'.